Government names nine new smart cities

Three cities of Uttar Pradesh are among nine chosen in the latest round of the Centre's flagship Smart Cities Mission, Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri

The number of cities picked under the project now stands at 99. Under the scheme, each city will get Rs 500 crore from the Centre for implementing various projects. An equal amount, on matching basis, will have to be contributed by the state or urban local bodies.

The nine cities chosen in the fourth round are -Bareilly, Moradabad and Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh, Erode in Tamil Nadu, Bihar Sharif in Bihar, Silvasa in Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Diu in Daman and Diu, Kavarati in Lakshadweep and Itanagar in Arunachal Pradesh. Shillong will be the 100th city provided it submit its proposal to the Centre in next three months, a senior official said.

The nine cities were selected from 15 cities that had submitted their proposals to the ministry, the official said. Uttar Pradesh’s Meerut, Ghaziabad, Rampur and Rae Bareli were among cities that failed to make the cut for Smart City tag. Silvasa topped the list of winners in this round.